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| A new twist on Thomas The Tank Engine https://rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27527 |
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| Author: | John D [ Wed May 27, 2009 8:22 am ] |
| Post subject: | A new twist on Thomas The Tank Engine |
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/27/au ... index.html The gist of the article has two interesting points: 1. The Thomas game developed here is designed to help autistic children recognize emotions (which is something of a challenge for those with autism); 2. A U.K. study found that autistic children are far more fascinated by "Thomas and Friends" than other fictitious television characters. So how can this work to the advantage of the rail preservation movement? Tactically, this could allow preservation groups/museums to expand the content of their Thomas communications/media. This could also allow us to expand our target audience via autism advocacy groups, such as CAN (Cure Autism Now) and others. We must do this with sensitivity and sincerity. By doing this in the right way, we can potentially increase our audience-but even better, this puts a human face on one aspect of our preservation activities. The challenge has often been stated-here, in TRAINS magazine, and elsewhere-about how and why the public should care about what we do. This is a bridge to help close that gap. Autism statistics are daunting (I think I've read that one in 253 children are now diagnosed as having autism), and autism has a wide range of developmental challenges (from minor to significant). And yet, I like to think of one "success story" with autism and rail preservation-my nephew. He is on the higher-functioning spectrum of autism, including being on his way to completing high school. Better yet, he has successfully attended/completed Rail Camp at Steamtown. Will he end up working in a rail preservation endeavor sometime later in life? I don't know....but our movement has a friend for life. Not only have we found someone to "pass the torch to", in some sense, but due to the kindness and intelligence of the Rail Camp folks who encouraged him to attend, we have 3 new fans-this young man, and his parents (who take him to see steam locomotives anywhere and everywhere). |
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